Devotion #2: The Water and the Rock

Chris Montville

“And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, ‘Truly this was the Son of God!’” Matthew 27:51-54

There is so much that happens in this one short passage, but one aspect of this verse that stands out to me is the splitting of the rocks and the earthquake. After reading it, I am immediately reminded of a passage in the Old Testament that shares a striking comparison. In Exodus, we see Moses leading the Israelites through the wilderness, and God does something with a rock there as well. The people were thirsty and had no water to drink while walking through the wilderness, so God provides.

Exodus 17:5-6 records, “And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.’ And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel.”

Jesus, in a similar realm, in John chapter 4, claims that He provides “living water” while speaking with the woman at the well.

John 4:10-14 says, “Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’”

Through Moses striking the rock in the wilderness, God brought forth water for the people; Jesus, through His perfect life and sacrifice on the cross, split the rocks and offers us living water! Interestingly enough, the comparisons between the Exodus passage and the Matthew passage do not end there. In Exodus, it tells us that the reason for the people’s quarreling was because of their lack of faith.

Exodus 17:7 says, “And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, ‘Is the Lord among us or not?’”

God reveals Himself, again, to the Israelites through this sign involving the rock. God reveals Himself, again, by the splitting of the rocks upon Jesus’ death. Similarly to the Exodus passage, we see doubt turn to belief in Matthew’s passage as well!

Matthew 27:54 states, “When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, ‘Truly this was the Son of God!’”

The earthquake is just another one of many signs God has given us to prove His validity. Jesus literally shook the course of history with His coming, death, and resurrection. It is the single most important event in our human history. Through His death, our sins, past, present, and future, are paid for. Through His resurrection three days later, we have life.

Building your life on the foundation of the earth’s rocks will ultimately fail. Nothing can stand to God’s power, as we see in these two examples. Christ is the only rock on which our life can stand. Let us make sure to have Him at the foundation of everything we do.

The parable in Matthew 7:24-25 sets a powerful image, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.”